A celebration of ground-level reporting and getting a worm's eye view of crisis zones. Even as a biography, this is Kaplan's most personal book to date, and through Gersony's story, he makes a poignant case for how American diplomacy should be conducted — with a clear eye toward facts on the ground — at a time when diplomacy is too often being left behind.
It’s an unexpected and entirely winning biography of Gersony, who worked as a U.S. foreign policy consultant during the 'golden age' of American diplomacy ... Kaplan’s book follows Gersony all through the rolling ambit of his world travels, and thanks to Kaplan’s own considerable narrative gifts, those journeys are as vivid and compelling as any travelogue ... Throughout it all, Gersony is surrounded not only by the indifferent waste and violent cruelty of the modern world but also, thankfully, by other good-hearted people who share what we could grandiloquently refer to as his vision of a kinder and more just society. Whether the setting is Mozambique, Chad, Somalia, Rwanda, Bosnia, El Salvador, or Nepal, Kaplan’s writing is unfailingly vivid. The book’s moral tone is equally vivid, although far more iconoclastic when read in the harsh squinty-cynical light of the early 21st century ... reading Kaplan’s account of smart, quiet, unsung heroism, readers will come away hopeful. If Bob Gersony can spend a life going out and really listening to other people, so can we.
... remarkable ... Having seen firsthand how Mr. Gersony improved policy and saved lives, I am grateful that this book will make his example better known. May it become an inspiration for others.
A must read for anyone interested in humanitarian work, foreign policy, and biography ... Based on hundreds of hours of interviews with Gersony, his colleagues, as well as personal recollections, Kaplan deservedly shines the light on a humanitarian who spent much of his career working anonymously.
